Hoyts 2011 Hunting Log

[Hoytmania]

Well I was able to get out Sunday morning. Although it was a skunk as far as hunting goes it was a good morning. Back at Tucks place which this is my first season there. I haven't been there for a couple of weeks so it looked very different with all the leaves off. The majority of the property is agricultural fields and is in corn and still standing. When I got down I decided to go for a little walk and see how much the rest of the property has changed with all the leaves being off.

The north side of this property is a local river, just south of that is a 10 to 15 acre pasture that used to be farmed but has been in CRP the past ten years due to the river flooding it every year. This area is literally a bowl. I found where the first drainage from the corn field into this bowl is and found lots of great tracks. Looking back I see a tree and think that looks like a great tree to put a setup in. Also this will give me a great view of the whole pasture and most of the corn field. This would be an ideal setup for gun season if I gun hunted. I go over to take a closer look at the tree and what do I find at the base but an old home made stand that had deteriorated over time and fallen down. Needless to say I Moved my setup. To the north I have the CRP and my platform is about 35' above the pasture. To my south is the corn field and platform height of about 20'.

I hung this and hunted it Sunday evening. I had a small doe come threw right at last light. was at full draw on her at 20 yards and decided not to because of how small she was. With all the great tracks of big deer I want one of them.

Here is the view from the new setup.
North over the pasture.

East over the pasture.

South over the corn field.

And West over the corn field with a beautiful sunset.


I went back to this setup Wednesday and didn't see anything, but I did find out all the corn was taken off Tuesday. ickle:

 

[moundhill]

Great update Hoyt, glad to see the corn came off..it's on now! Goodluck bro

 

[Hoytmania]

Well Saturday was my first all day sit. I went to "The Ridge" off of what Huck and I saw there the previous sat. Got in a little later than I was wanting to. Only about a half hour before shooting light. As I got in the stand I figured I wouldn't even get settled in, I would just stand there and wait for it to get light. I was anticipating a lot of action. Just as it was starting to get light I heard two big limbs break down the ridge and to the north followed by two grunts. I quickly had my bow in my hand and my release attached to my D-loop. I eventually caught a glimpse of the doe about 40 yards away. At this point she decided to cross over the ridge instead of continuing up the ridge toward me. At this point I hadn't seen what had produced the grunts but I knew he was with her. They hung out behind some trees 40 - 50 yds away long enough for me to think they weren't there anymore. All of a sudden I see her heading south from the ridge down into the bottom. I catch the glimpse of a big body behind her through the trees but still couldn't get a grasp of how big the buck was. She continued down the bottom till she got about 100 yds. away and she stopped. Over the next 20 minutes I watched her through the binos and finally caught a glimpse of the buck. I could tell he had a good rack on him but was not prepared for what I would see in the next couple of minutes. As she just stood there observing her surroundings he just milled around not leaving a 10 yd radius of her. She finally decide to move and started back north toward the direction thy originally came up the ridge. At this point I got my first full view of a SLUNGER 10 point. Easy 150-160 class with mass all the way out to his tips. I did my best to call him away from her and to get him to come back up the hill but he would not leave his lady. Needless to say my blood pressure kept me warm the rest of the morning as I watch several other smaller bucks and some does make their way through the bottom.

Meanwhile I am playing some strategies through my head. This is a property that I have had the pleasure of another fellow TOOzer visit. He has a good history of killing some big bucks. Both time he has visited he has said something about how he would setup down in the bottom. I have always feared this because to get into the bottom you basically have to walk through the whole property. This is a 12 acre property but it is probably only 200 yds. wide. After another morning of watching deer continually run the bottom and watching another wall hanging stud disappear into the bottom at 11:30 I had had enough and decided I was moving my setup. I took down two stands and a 20" climbing stick and proceeded to move down the ridge with the stick and one stand. Got down there and found the tree I wanted to be in. All the while doing the best I can to be as quiet as possible because I know there are beds in the thick stuff in this bottom. After getting everything setup I was just getting ready to put my pack back on and head back up the hill to get my bow and I hear leaves crunching. I turn and look to see a buck at 40 yrds heading straight to me. At first glance just seeing it was a buck and not having my bow I figured it was going to be the monster that I had seen earlier in the day, but it was not.

Here is my little insert of a testimonial to the smoker. I had just finished hanging a 20" climbing stick, a treestand, and screwing in a bow hanger and some hooks. Needless to say I had churned up a little bit of sweat. This buck cruised by 20 yards west of me on an uphill slope with a EAST wind, and never even stopped. He then turned and walked right up the path that I had came down probably not 30 minutes prior. I finally got the camera out and did a mouth grunt to get him to stop as he was walking away.


This picture was taken just before 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

Well after letting him make his way out of the area. I made my way back up the ridge. I went into town real quick and got me some water and a granola bar and headed back out to the new setup.

It was dead until about 4:20 when I noticed a few does out in the pasture to the east of the woods. This would be the entertainment for the next hour and 45 minutes.

All total I saw 15 deer for the day. 8 bucks and 7 does. I am just hoping to get to see that Slunger again.

I also had a sit tonight at Tucks place. Got skunked there.
Deer - 45
Bucks - 17
Does - 26
Button Bucks - 1
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 3
Hits - 2

Harvest
Doe - 1
Buck - 0

 

[epe]

Looks like a nice buck in the picture..

 

[Hoytmania]

Well haven't been able to get back out into the woods since a short hunt Monday evening. Getting ready to head back down to "The Ridge". I feel like I am over hunting this spot for two reasons. I have been there for three weekends in a row, and I know the other surrounding properties are being hunted regularly also. I just know that for the past two weekends I have been seeing a lot of deer. I am just hoping to see that big boy I saw last weekend. If nothing produces and my nephew doesn't get a hold of me, then I will be making a move early afternoon to move a setup at Claps to hunt there for the evening.

 

[Hoytmania]

Saturday turned out to be a good day. Things started out exciting. Saw 2 bucks and 2 does within the first half hour after shooting light. Both bucks where 8 pointers and not really what I was hoping to see after last weekend. I was in for quite a surprise though thinking that the sightings where going to continue. Boy was I wrong. It was absolutely dead until around 10:30 I had a doe coming up the path toward me, but of course she cut off the path into a thicket about 50 yds. away and just disappeared. I was patiently waiting for the buck that was in toe of this lonely doe but it just didn't happen.

About an hour later I had a doe come scooting in behind me and I could tell she was on alert. She disappeared as fast as she appeared not giving me a chance to even get my bow off of the hanger. A few minutes later I hear something coming from the same direction that die disappeared to. It was a buck and he was moving. At first I thought he might be chasing that doe, but I soon found out I was wrong. He came out into a path and laid down. He only laid there for about 10 seconds hopped back up and down through the thicket to hop the fence and into the pasture. At this point I could tell he was hurting. He went out and laid down in the middle of the pasture. He didn't have a very tall rack but once out in the field I could glass him and see he was well past his ears as far as width was concerned. He laid there for about 5 minutes and then got up and hobbled over to the other fence line and jumped the fence. I was debating on what to do. Should I just pack up and leave knowing that there was going to be people tromping through the woods tracking this deer? Do I just stay in the stand and continue to hunt? Or do I get down when I see them tracking and let them know what I witnessed. I opted for the last choice. As I saw 2 guys moving their way through the thicket in the direction the came through I got down went over and chatted with them letting them know exactly what I saw in hopes that they could recover the deer. With all the info that I had given them they decided to back out and come back in a few hours to recover the buck. I am not sure weather or not they ever recovered the deer but I hope they did.

I had ran into my nephew the night before in Wal-Mart and we where talking hunting. He hasn't been able to hunt like he would like to over the past few years dew to starting up his own business. I told him if he wanted to join me in the stand he was more than welcome to. I texted him about 1 o'clock to see if he wanted to come hunt. If it was a yes I was staying put for the day. If not I was packing up and going to a different property for a evening hunt. He decided to come over. Once in the stand with me at about 3 we settled in for the afternoon. With the combination of the other hunters and the lack of general movement we didn't see anything all afternoon till the last half hour. We are standing there kinda chatting about how thick this thicket is below us and how there could be deer in there and us not even know it. All of a sudden he grabs my arm and says a deer just stood up in the thicket about 40 yds. in front of us. I could not see the deer due to trees in the way. The deer starts moving toward us and stops at this small sapling. What we thought was a doe turned out to be a button buck. He stood at this sapling for about 10 minutes rubbing his little nubs all over this tree. He finally decides to make his way into the path and up to our tree. My nephew has yet to harvest his first archery deer, so he decided to take a shot at this deer. By this time it had started to really loose light. The deer is at ten yards and he fires. The jumps and takes off back into the thicket. He stops and is bobbing up and down like he is really struggling to stay up. He then turns and heads even deeper into the thicket and disappears.

At this point we decided to get down go to the gas station and get some coffee and come back to track his deer. When we returned we found a minimal blood trail but a trail non the less. The hit wasn't as good as we thought it was. I honestly thought he hit it in the heart but the more we tracked the more we realized he had shot it through the lower shoulder and exited out right between the leg and the brisket. We tracked for 3 hours and finally got to where we knew we couldn't track any further.

All in all it was a very fun hunt even though we didn't recover his deer. I hardly get to spend any time with my nephew any more just due to the demands of life, and this was some good time spent together and it will always be banked in the logs of my hunting memories.

Deer - 52
Bucks - 19
Does - 24
Button Bucks - 2
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 2
Hits - 1

Harvest
Doe - 1
Buck - 0

 

[Hoytmania]

Well looking at the work schedule today and it is looking slow for Friday. debating on weather or not to take it off. :smiley_chinrub:

 

[finelyshedded]

I'd hunt Steve. If the weather we're predicted pans out the hunting could provide that magical moment for you. Goodluck and hope you slayeth a beast!

 

[Hoytmania]

Heading out to a property that I haven't hunted yet this season. Winds from the NW at 6-7 MPH. Looks good...Just got to smoke up real good this morning.

 

[Schu72]

Good luck. Should be a great day to hunt.

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Get it Stevo!

 

[Hoytmania]

Yesterday turned out to be pretty much a bust. It was an absolute beautiful morning. Calm as could be, clear as could be, cool and crisp. My morning sit I only saw two deer. A small eight pointer and another buck that was probably a 1/4 mile away walking through an open field at 11 o'clock. I really thought I would have more sightings than that but oh well, still a great morning to be in the stand.

So I decided to go to another property that I haven't hunted yet this year. Got my setup in and was in the stand by 3. This is overlooking four fields of winter wheat. I didn't see anything till the last 40 minutes. I ended up seeing 7 deer in the fields I was not setup in. 3 doe and 4 yearlings. No bucks to be seen. These where some nice sized does, I would of loved to fill my anterless tag on one of them. Feeling kinda jaded and tired I missed an opportunity on a button that came running in with about 15 minutes of light left. I didn't have my bow in hand. I got him to stop at 15 yds. but by the time I got my bow off the hanger and drawn he had started walking again and got behind some limbs. I am not one to usually shoot at buttons but I need to get this antlerless tag filled.

Back at it today. Goal is to fill the antlerless tag. If some descent bone walks by it is done TOO. I am really dumbfounded on where to go because of the Jr. orange army hitting the woods today. There is two of my properties that have youth hunting on them today. SO I can't go there. It has been a while since I have been to CLap but I just haven't really seen a lot of action there. Need to move my setup and just haven't had time. I could go back to The Ridge as I am sure will be moving because of the extra people in the woods, but my butt is getting tired and don't know if I could handle a drag up out of that ridge today. The only other option I really have is at Docs, but the neighbor (who has usually killed at least 4 deer by know) hasn't even harvested a deer yet due to dogs in the area running deer. Plus this has always seemed to be a better evening place to hunt.


Deer - 56
Bucks - 21
Does - 31
Button Bucks - 3
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 2
Hits - 1

Harvest
Doe - 1
Buck - 0

 

[Hoytmania]

Ended up going to The Ridge. I figured I would a least get some stuffed pushed or shot my way. Got in the stand at about 6:15. Just at first light I am thinking to myself you should get your bow in your hand so you are ready. While thinking this I hear some movement behind me. I look around the tree and standing 20 yds is the stud I saw two weeks ago. He is just standing there at the trail I had just walked in on 30 minutes prior. I get the bow of the hanger and am waiting for him to take 3 steps in the same direction he is coming from so I could deflate him. He continues to stand there for a moment or two and he decides to turn 90 degrees and walk straight away from me. Not spooked at all. I waited till he got up the hill a little ways and hit the can call to no avail. To be so stinking close yet so far away AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! :tantrum: If he wasn't so sneaky and I could have caught him 40 yrds out on his way in I would have been able to utilize another shooting lane that I have.

That was it until 10:30 when two does came barreling through. They weren't going to stop for anything.

Taking the evening off. Going to C-bus with the family for a night on the town.

Deer - 59
Bucks - 21
Does - 32
Button Bucks - 3
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 2
Hits - 1

Harvest
Doe - 1
Buck - 0

 

[Hoytmania]

Going over to the bowl this morning. UGH!!! I am tired. Had two cups of coffee and feel like I could still go back to bed. Getting close to burnout but got one week to fill a antlerless tag or I am eating it. I am just hoping that youth gun will have the deer on their feet and give me a chance at something.

 

[Hoytmania]

Back in from a Sunday morning skunk. Windy as all get out. Seems like every time someone shot they shot two times. I sweat I heard two shots from the same gun four or five times in a matter of ten minutes. Shouldn't you see if you hit the deer you shot at first before trying to shoot another one? Sorry for the little rant. Just getting flustered. Helping the wife move furniture from her great grandparents and then a birthday party tonight. Might not make it back out till turkey day.

 

[Hoytmania]

Well got off work in time yesterday to head to a stand. went to the property that I just hung a set in on Friday of last week. I am going to refer to this place as The Approach. It is in perfect line with a local airport and I can planes buzzing right over top of me as they are approaching the airport.

Got in the stand about 4:10 and settled in. About 4:40 I catch some movement west of me out in the field. It turns out to be a nice 2.5 year old buck, I couldn't make out his whole rack. Either a 9 or 10 pointer, and was just out to his ears. Loads of potential to being a stud in a couple of years if he makes it. By the time he makes his way out the fields the sun was setting and I figured I would be seeing some does and yearlings entering the fields to browse on the winter wheat by now but no such luck. I happened to be looking toward the east into a inside corner and caught the glimpse of a deer running through the woods toward the corner. This corner is a double inside corner of two fields and two woods meeting together. I grabbed my bow and got it in hand so I was ready if the opportunity presented itself. After a few minutes I finally spotted a small l doe make here way out of the corner into the field. Then another small doe, then another, and finally momma doe came out. They where just taking their time coming down the fence row I was setup in. I could tell they where going to come right where I needed them TOO for a good shot. I got my bow to full draw settled the pin right behind the shoulder for 25 yds. A couple clicks to get her to stop and hit the release. I watched as my arrow hit its mark and disappear. She took off and went about 60 yrds to the end of the field and dropped.

I was a little worried that I wasn't going to get my antlerless tag filled before gun season, but the Good Lord smiled upon me last night.

Here is a pic of the doe.


Here is the corner that she came from. This is the view to the east.


Here is the view to the south. This is where she was standing when I shot her.


This is looking west.


This is to the north.


Deer - 64
Bucks - 22
Does - 36
Button Bucks - 3
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 3
Hits - 2

Harvest
Doe - 2
Buck - 0

 

[dante322]

good deal hoyt. backstraps for thanksgiving dinner?

 

[finelyshedded]

Congrats on the doe Steve.!

 

[Hoytmania]

good deal hoyt. backstraps for thanksgiving dinner?

No not gonna have her done by then. I am getting ready to go out and skin her so that we can butcher up later on. Speaking of butchering you seem to do a good job what are you doing later on today? I need someone to learn me how to properly butcher up a deer. LOL

As far as this mornings hunt went It was very cold for as calm as it was. I think it was due to all the moisture in the air. Most of the morning I was listening to crows fighting over the gut pile from my doe. At about 8:40 I saw a deer through the trees to my north and it was hauling to say the least. It only took a minute for me to find out why. A yellow lab came strolling into the field chased off all the crows and proceeded to have a morning breakfast of deer guts.

Deer - 65
Bucks - 22
Does - 36
Button Bucks - 3
Unknown - 2

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 3
Hits - 2

Harvest
Doe - 2
Buck - 0

 

[dante322]

Speaking of butchering you seem to do a good job what are you doing later on today? I need someone to learn me how to properly butcher up a deer. LOL

Got family stuff all day. But shoot me a text when you are ready to do it, I might be able to break away for a bit. If nothing else I can loan you that DVD I was talking about.